After the almost execrable excesses of his last few outings – I could barely keep myself from flinching at their over-the-top tonality – I was bracing for more of the same in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi. After all, the territory is ripe for his brand of extravagant cinema: the tale of a sex worker who survives extreme brutalisation to lobby with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
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Gangubai Kathiawadi avoids trivializing the pitfall for many well-meaning films based on prostitution in India. In that respect, the film feels decent and compassionate without precious portrayal for cheap laughs. Bhansali portrays sex workers as normal beings and not as specimens. The film’s most potent strength is how it seizes the lives of the prostitutes without ever attempting to pass a judgement.